Paris Agreement

The Paris Agreement is a legally binding international treaty on climate change, adopted by 196 Parties at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris on December 12, 2015. It entered into force on November 4, 2016. The primary goal of the agreement is to limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels, with efforts to limit the increase to 1.5°C. To achieve this, countries commit to submitting progressively ambitious climate action plans, known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), every five years. The agreement also emphasizes the need for financial support to developing countries, mechanisms for transparency, and regular global stocktakes to assess collective progress.

Key aspects of the Paris Agreement include:

• Long-term Temperature Goal: Limiting the global temperature increase to well below 2°C, while pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.
• Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs): Countries are required to submit NDCs every five years, outlining their climate action plans and targets.
• Financial Support: Developed countries are urged to provide financial assistance to developing nations to help them mitigate and adapt to climate change.
• Transparency Framework: Establishing a system for monitoring, reporting, and verifying countries' climate actions and support.
• Global Stocktake: Conducting a collective assessment every five years to evaluate progress towards the agreement's goals.

The Paris Agreement represents a significant milestone in global efforts to address climate change, fostering international collaboration and commitment to sustainable development.

Source(s):

• United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). (n.d.). The Paris Agreement.
• United Nations. (n.d.). The Paris Agreement.
• Wikipedia. (n.d.). Paris Agreement.

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